IRELAND has finally ratified a Council of Europe convention aimed at protecting the architectural heritage of member-states and will now acquire a range of new obligations in this area.
However, the Government has reserved its right not to comply with one article which would permit public authorities to require the owners of a listed building to carry out repairs or to undertake such work themselves.
The legal and financial implications of introducing this provision are currently being examined in the context of the recent inter-departmental report on measures to strengthen the protection of Ireland's architectural heritage.
Depending on the outcome of this review, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, said that he and the Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, hoped to be in a position in the future to withdraw Ireland's reservation from the terms of the convention.
The ratification of the 1985 Granada Convention - long a key demand from conservation groups such as An Taisce - was approved by the Dail in December and formally lodged in the Council of Europe on Monday.
It was described by Mr Higgins as an important statement of this country's commitment" as it involved adopting more stringent European standards on the conservation of historic buildings.
These include a range of statutory protection measures, the provision of financial incentives for conservation and the promotion of the architectural heritage as a major feature of public policy.
But Ms Sile de Valera, the Fianna Fail spokeswoman, said it was "laughable that Minister Higgins is trumpeting how the Tanaiste has signed this 12-year- old European Convention" when the Government had still not committed itself to implement the inter-departmental report.
